Peer-to-Peer File-Sharing Anonymity At Last!

[Michael Fisher]

My business partner Ken and I have come up with a great idea to revolutionize filesharing anonymity on the internet.? We need to publish this idea as soon as possible so that's why I'm starting by posting it here.  Ken thought up the idea of forged source IPs and we thought up the rest of it in about an hour.   

Currently, peer-to-peer filesharing networks try to protect the privacy of downloaders, but not the privacy of uploaders.? Anyone caught sharing specific files can be sued.? Most people are kept private and safe against lawsuits unless they attempt to share certain files with others.

We have found a way to reverse this situation so that ALL uploaders are ABSOLUTELY anonymous!? Downloaders will also be anonymous, however, a downloader could be revealed in certain circumstances.? This idea will revolutionize file-sharing privacy as we know it!


Anonymous File-Sharing
by Ken Mauser and Mike Fisher

Startup
Upon starting the filesharing software, a request is made for a list of peers.? Everyone on the network is a peer.? "Peers" are not anonymous and act as nodes that broadcast data requests to all other peers AND servers that share files.? File lists are not controlled by ultrapeers.? All peers are equal.

File Searching
When you search for a file, your search term is broadcast to all peers on the filesharing network.? A downloader is therefore not anonymous when broadcasting a search.? All peers receive information about your request, including your source IP.

Anonymously Responding to a Search with a File List
If you have filesharing turned on, you will respond to a search term by sending a list of matching files back to the downloader.? When you send this information to downloaders, THE SOURCE IP ON ALL PACKETS SENT WILL BE MODIFIED (aka "forged"), thus granting all servers absolute anonymity.

The downloader will receive your list of files and will not know where it originated from.? Your list of files received will include the following:
-File name, size, checksum, etc.
-A VERY LONG, unique machine ID that has a very rare chance of duplication.? This is for encryption and distributed filesharing purposes.
The key to downloader anonymity is that the machine ID must be uniquely generated by EACH peer, for EACH file, after EACH search, immediately before responding to a search.

Requesting a File Download
When requesting a download, the downloader encrypts the entire request with the unique machine ID, then broadcasts the request to all peers.
The only peer that can decrypt and read the request is the peer with the unique machine ID.
The machine ID also aids in downloading pieces of files simultaneously from multiple servers.? For example, the downloader can send 4 requests to download 4 different sections of a file from 4 different hosts simultaneously.
Also, when the downloader requests a simultaneous download from multiple peers, prior to the download, each uploading peer dynamically splits the file up into pieces and responds with the file checksum as well as the checksums of each section of the file.

Performing a dynamic file checksum attempts to prevent fake peers from purposely responding with false file information to ruin the network, although that is still theoretically possible.

Downloading a File
When a peer receives and decrypts a request to send specific portions of a file, it sends the file sections WHILE MODIFYING THE SOURCE IP, thus sending all files and responses anonymously!
If a downloader receives a section of file data that does not match the file section's original checksum, it can simply broadcast another request for that section of the file, from other hosts if necessary.


No centralized servers exist.? The network could not be shut down.? No data is broadcast through the network except for requests for lists of files and peers.? Short of installing monitoring software on all internet routers, there is no way that this form of filesharing could be stopped.
Uploader anonymity would be absolutely anonymous.
Downloader anonymity would be extremely difficult to violate as more and more hosts offer only legitimate files that will show up in response to searches in very large quantities.?

[Erethizon]

Sounds like Freenet.

http://freenet.sourceforge.net/

[Michael Fisher]

Sounds like Freenet.

http://freenet.sourceforge.net/

Yes, but many, many times faster. 

[rothamerica]

Wow, Mike.  That sounds awesome.